Ranged Damage is a name used on this wiki and elsewhere to refer to the Physical Damage caused be any type of Ranged Attack.
As with all other types of Physical Damage, Ranged Damage attempts to inflict actual 
Damage Points on its target, and requires the attacker and target to perform multiple 
To Hit and 
Defense rolls, respectively, in order to determine the final Damage amount.
Ranged Damage is only a collective name that's used for simplicity's sake. In practice, it is actually a group of three separate damage types, namely Ranged Missile Damage, Ranged Boulder Damage and Ranged Magical Damage, which are delivered by 
Missile, 
Boulder and 
Magic attacks respectively. Each of these behaves slightly differently from one another, and from the rest of the Physical Damage types found in the game.
Effect[]
Although Ranged Damage is actually a collective name for three different types of damage (see below), all three have a very similar effect on the target - as defined by the rules common to all Physical Damage types. This always involves both To Hit rolls and Defense rolls to determine the final amount of Damage done to the target.
The maximum amount of Damage caused to the target is equal to the strength of the Ranged Attack itself. This has to be calculated (see below) before the damage can be processed.
Rolling To Hit[]
With all types of Physical Damage, the attacker is required to make To Hit rolls, which determine how many hits are registered against the target. The number of rolls is equal to the strength of the Ranged Attack itself. Each roll results in a value between 1 and 100, which is then compared to the attacker's To Hit score (usually 30, before modifiers are taken into account). Each successful roll registers one hit against the target.
Some types of Ranged Damage (as explained below) also modify the attacker's To Hit score based on the distance to the target. This is always a penalty, and serves to reduce the number of registered hits when Ranged Damage is inflicted from a greater distance. This goes to offset the tactical advantages of Ranged Attacks, since the target is not allowed to retaliate (unlike with Melee Attacks).
Rolling To Block[]
The target of Physical Damage is then allowed to make Defense rolls, which will help it block or dodge some of these registered hits. The number of rolls is equal to the target's 
Defense score, and again each roll results in a number between 1 and 100, which is compared with the defender's To Block score (usually 30, for nearly all units). Each successful roll blocks one of those registered hits.
Applying Damage[]
Finally, any registered hits that were not blocked are immediately translated into actual Damage which is applied to the target's current 
Health. During this process, the target unit may lose one or more of its 
figures, and may end up being completely destroyed as a result.
Since Physical Damage requires both To Hit and Defense rolls, the actual amount of Damage delivered to the target is almost always lower than the calculated maximum. It is even possible that no actual Damage will result, whether the attacker failed all his/her To Hit rolls or the defender managed to succeed in a sufficient number of Defense rolls.
There are also complex rules regarding 
Multi-Figure units making or suffering Physical Damage. The attack is stronger the more Figures there are in the attacking unit, and the defender unit has more chance to survive if it contains more Figures as well.
For a complete explanation of how Physical Damage works, including all the rolls it is required to make, see the article on Physical Damage.
Attack Strength[]
The total amount of Ranged Damage delivered by a Ranged Attack is determined primarily by the Ranged Attack strength of the attacking unit. This is indicated by a row of Bows, Boulders or Bolts in the unit's details panel, depending on what kind of Ranged Attack the unit is using.
For each Bow, Boulder or Bolt, the unit delivers 1 point of Ranged Damage. Thus, a unit with 3 Bows deliver 3 points of Ranged Damage each time it makes a Ranged Attack.
This becomes somewhat more complex with Multi-Figure units, since each Figure makes a separate Ranged Attack upon the target. For example, a unit with 3 Bows and 4 Figures makes 4 separate Ranged Attacks, each delivering 3 points of Ranged Damage. This is not the same as a single attack delivering 12 points of Ranged Damage (see Physical Damage for a thorough explanation of why this is so).
The calculated Attack Strength indicates the absolute maximum amount of Damage that can be caused to the target. Again, due to the To Hit and To Block rolls made in the process of calculating inflicted damage (see above), the actual results are usually lower than this maximum.
Distance Penalties[]
Two of the three types of Ranged Damage, namely Ranged Missile Damage and Ranged Boulder Damage, are subjected to To Hit penalties based on the distance between the attacker and the target. The greater the distance, the higher the penalty. This influences the damage output of the unit's Ranged Attacks as explained above. This penalty is unique to these two damage types, and is not applied to any other attack found in the game; it doesn't even apply to Ranged Magical Damage.
The size of the penalty is based only on distance, as shown in the table below:
| Range | To Hit Penalty
|
|---|---|
| 1 Tile (adjacent)* | No Penalty |
| 2 Tiles | No Penalty |
| 3,4 or 5 Tiles | -10% Penalty
|
| 6,7 or 8 Tiles | -20% Penalty
|
| Etcetera | -30% Penalty
|
* "Adjacent" means the attacker and the target are right next to each other (including diagonals).
Note that some units possess the Long Range ability. In this case, they will never suffer a To Hit penalty greater than -10%. In other words, they will suffer exactly -10% when firing at any target that is at least 3 tiles away. Also note that the lowest the distance penalty can bring your to hit score is 10%.
Ranged Damage Types[]
As mentioned earlier, the term "Ranged Damage" does not actually describe one specific Damage Type, but rather a group of three separate types, called Ranged Missile Damage, Ranged Boulder Damage and Ranged Magical Damage. They are all delivered by Ranged Attacks, and are similar enough that they can be safely explained together in a single article.
Each of these is defined as being delivered by a different kind of Ranged Attack. As you probably already know, there are three Ranged Attack Types in the game. The table below shows which attack delivers which kind of damage:
| Attack Type | Icon | Ranged Damage Type |
|---|---|---|
| Ranged Missile Attack | *
|
Ranged Missile Damage |
| Ranged Boulder Attack | *
|
Ranged Boulder Damage |
| Ranged Magical Attack |
|
Ranged Magical Damage |
* Slingers have a Ranged Missile Attack marked with Boulders. This is still a missile attack though.
The sections below explain how each of these "sub-types" differs from the others. In all other aspects, they are identical.
Ranged Missile Damage[]
Ranged Missile Damage is always delivered by Ranged Missile Attacks. Its strength is thus based on the attacker's Ranged Missile Attack strength.
Ranged Missile Damage suffers from Distance Penalties, as described above. It is thus very important to try and get close to the target before firing, in order to avoid or at least minimize the To Hit reduction caused by this effect.
Ranged Missile Damage will always trigger a target's Missile Immunity, if present. This increases the target's Defense score to 50, making that target impervious to all but the strongest Ranged Missile Attacks. However, it will not normally trigger any other kind of immunity, and so may be useful against Magic-Immune units.
Ranged Boulder Damage[]
Ranged Boulder Damage is always delivered by Ranged Boulder Attacks. Its strength is thus based on the attacker's Ranged Boulder Attack strength.
Ranged Boulder Damage suffers from Distance Penalties, as described above. It is thus usually important to try and get close to the target before firing, in order to avoid or at least minimize the To Hit reduction caused by this effect. Fortunately, several units possessing a Ranged Boulder Attack also possess the Long Range ability, which limits that penalty to some degree.
Ranged Boulder Damage will not trigger any of the target's immunities, and thus can be effective against a wide variety of targets.
Ranged Magical Damage[]
Ranged Magical Damage is always delivered by Ranged Magical Attacks. Its strength is thus based on the attacker's Ranged Magical Attack strength.
Ranged Magical Damage does not suffer from any Distance Penalties. Therefore, it is just as effective when the target is way across the other side of the battlefield as it is when the target is very close by. This allows Ranged Magical Attacks to be used early in the battle, and makes them very deadly throughout.
On the other hand, Ranged Magical Damage will always trigger a target's Magic Immunity, if present. This increases the target's Defense score to 50, making that target impervious to all but the strongest Ranged Magical Attacks. However, it will not normally trigger any other kind of immunity, and so may be useful against Missile-Immune units.
The reaction with the target's Magic Immunity means that Ranged Magical Damage is often lumped into another Damage Type known simply as Magical Damage - the damage delivered by most combat spells. There are slight differences, but it is usually fine to use the term Magical Damage instead of Ranged Magical Damage.